The latest EU progress report on Macedonia determines that the country has regressed in terms of healthcare. In a statement on this finding, the VMRO-DPMNE Healthcare Commission notes that this is the result of corruption in the public healthcare sector.

The focus on the Government is obviously only on the procurement contracts. This is best seen in the case of the clinical center in Skopje, which was supposed to be finished by now, but instead we will be paying 8.5 million EUR in penalties for the cancelled contract alone, the opposition party said.

The EU notes that Macedonia’s public healthcare sector is hit hard by flight of doctors and nurses from the public to the private sector. VMRO-DPMNE adds that the end of the large program this party instituted to train public sector professionals abroad contributed to this loss of expertise and venues for promotion in the public sector.